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Extending Full-Plate Tectonic Models Into Deep Time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic

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Extending Full-Plate Tectonic Models Into Deep Time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic Extending Full-Plate Tectonic Models into Deep Time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic Andrew S. Merdith1,*, Simon E. Williams2, Alan S. Collins3, Michael G. Tetley1, Jacob A. Mulder4, Morgan L. Blades3, Alexander Young5, Sheree E. Armistead6, John Cannon7, Sabin 7 7 Zahirovic and R. Dietmar Müller 1 UnivLyon, Université Lyon 1, Ens de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5276 LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France 2 Northwest University, Xi’an, China 3 Tectonics and Earth Systems (TES) Group, Departtment of Earth Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia 4 School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia 5 GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW 2522, Australia 6 Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada & Metal Earth, Harquail School of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada 7 Earthbyte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia [email protected] @AndrewMerdith [email protected] [email protected] @geoAlanC [email protected] @mikegtet [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] @geoSheree [email protected] [email protected] @tectonicSZ [email protected] @MullerDietmar This is the unformatted accepted manuscript published in Earth-Science Reviews https://www.journals.elsevier.com/earth-science-reviews DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103477 1 Extending Full-Plate Tectonic Models into Deep Time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the 2 Phanerozoic 3 4 Andrew S. Merdith1,*, Simon E. Williams2, Alan S. Collins3, Michael G. Tetley1, Jacob A. Mulder4, Morgan 5 L. Blades3, Alexander Young5, Sheree E. Armistead6, John Cannon7, Sabin Zahirovic7 and R. Dietmar 6 Müller7 7 1 UnivLyon, Université Lyon 1, Ens de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5276 LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France 8 2 Northwest University, Xi’an, China 9 3 Tectonics and Earth Systems (TES) Group, Departtment of Earth Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia 10 4 School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia 11 5 GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW 2522, 12 Australia 13 6 Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada & Metal Earth, Harquail School of Earth Sciences, Laurentian 14 University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada 15 7 Earthbyte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia 16 * Corresponding author: [email protected] 17 18 Abstract 19 20 Recent progress in plate tectonic reconstructions has seen models move beyond the classical idea of 21 continental drift by attempting to reconstruct the full evolving configuration of tectonic plates and plate 22 boundaries. A particular problem for the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian is that many existing interpretations 23 of geological and palaeomagnetic data have remained disconnected from younger, better-constrained 24 periods in Earth history. An important test of deep time reconstructions is therefore to demonstrate the 25 continuous kinematic viability of tectonic motions across multiple supercontinent cycles. We present, for 26 the first time, a continuous full-plate model spanning 1 Ga to the present-day, that includes a revised and 27 improved model for the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian (1000–520 Ma) that connects with models of the 28 Phanerozoic, thereby opening up pre-Gondwana times for quantitative analysis and further regional 29 refinements. In this contribution, we first summarise methodological approaches to full-plate modelling 30 and review the existing full-plate models in order to select appropriate models that produce a single 31 continuous model. Our model is presented in a palaeomagnetic reference frame, with a newly-derived 32 apparent polar wander path for Gondwana from 540 to 320 Ma, and a global apparent polar wander path 33 from 320 to 0 Ma. We stress, though while we have used palaeomagnetic data when available, the model 34 is also geologically constrained, based on preserved data from past-plate boundaries. This study is intended 35 as a first step in the direction of a detailed and self-consistent tectonic reconstruction for the last billion 36 years of Earth history, and our model files are released to facilitate community development. 37 38 1 Introduction 39 40 Plate tectonics is a unifying theory of modern geology, explicitly connecting the evolution and processes 41 that bridge the mantle, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Tectonic forces control the rates of uplift 42 and erosion where continents collide or separate (England and Molnar, 1990) and modulate the flow of 43 energy between oceans, lithosphere and mantle as continental configurations evolve (Bebout, 1995; Karlsen 44 et al., 2019; Müller et al., 2008). Evolving plate tectonic configurations also determine changes in how 45 species are distributed across different landmasses (McKenzie et al., 2014; Meert and Lieberman, 2008) 46 and infer the rates of chemical flux between the Earth’s surface and the deep interior (Gernon et al., 2016; 47 Jarrard, 2003). 48 49 Global reconstructions have traditionally focussed on the positions of the major continents and geological 50 terranes preserved within them. Data acquired from modern oceans provide a powerful constraint on the 51 breakup of the supercontinent Pangea over the last ca. 200 Ma, and form the basis of continuous models of 52 plate configurations from the Mesozoic to present (e.g. Müller et al., 2016; Seton et al., 2012). These ‘full- 53 plate’ reconstructions use geological and geophysical data to determine the configurations and motions of 54 both continental and oceanic lithosphere, and the nature of the plate boundaries that separate neighbouring 55 plates. Together with the development of free software tools (Boyden et al., 2011; Müller et al., 2018), full- 56 plate reconstructions permit quantitative estimates of tectonic processes through time within a continuous, 57 consistent kinematic framework, opening up portions of Earth’s history to quantitative analysis (e.g. Bower 58 et al., 2013; Brune et al., 2017; Dutkiewicz et al., 2019; Hounslow et al., 2018; Karlsen et al., 2019; Merdith 59 et al., 2019a). 60 61 Plate tectonic processes are thought to have been the dominant control on Earth’s paleogeography possibly 62 since 3.2 Ga (Brenner et al., 2020; Brown et al., 2020a; Cawood et al., 2018a; Gerya, 2014; Palin et al., 63 2020). Studies of the pre-Pangean Earth have led to the proposal that Pangea was preceded by the 64 Proterozoic supercontinents Rodinia (Dalziel, 1991; Hoffman, 1991; Moores, 1991) and Nuna/Columbia 65 (Meert, 2002; Rogers and Santosh, 2002; Zhao et al., 2002) and earlier Archaean ‘supercratons’ (e.g. 66 Bleeker, 2003; Pehrsson et al., 2013; Smirnov et al., 2013), reflecting transient aggregations of continental 67 blocks interspersed between other phases of Earth’s history when the continents were more dispersed. The 68 absence of a pre-Mesozoic ocean floor record neccessitates that reconstructing the pre-Pangean Earth relies 69 on the fragmented geological record preserved within the continents. Early studies of Proterozoic 70 supercontinents provide individual snapshots of continental configurations; though there are differences 71 between competing interpretations. More recently, attempts have been made to reconcile Neoproterozoic 72 continental motions within a continuous kinematic framework (Cawood et al., 2020; Collins and 73 Pisarevsky, 2005; Li et al., 2008). To further infer the extent and nature of tectonic boundaries covering all 74 of Earth’s surface in the Proterozoic requires methodical extrapolation of available observations and is 75 subject to major uncertainties. Despite this, these reconstructions are valuable in that they make testable 76 predictions about regions and time periods where observations are lacking. 77 78 Full-plate models published over the last decade collectively span the last 1 Ga. However, each of these 79 models cover different time periods or areas of the world and each model is based on different assumptions 80 and hypotheses, and place differing emphases on subsets of the geological record. Thus, although 81 continental motions and plate boundary evolution have been categorised in some manner for the past 1 Ga, 82 there is no fully continuous model defining Earth’s tectonic history for this time. A fundamental test of any 83 tectonic reconstruction for the Precambrian is that the configurations of continents, terranes and plate 84 boundaries can evolve continuously as to seamlessly merge with reconstructed configurations for more 85 recent times that are better constrained and ultimately tied to the present-day Earth. The absence of such 86 continuous reconstructions highlights a critical uncertainty for assessing interpretations of Neoproterozoic 87 palaeogeography, tectonics and geodynamics. 88 89 Our key motivations for this study are three-fold. Firstly, a 1 Ga model will permit, for the first time, 90 Neoproterozoic and Cambrian quantitative analysis that constrains (bio)geochemical and volatile fluxes, 91 palaeoclimatic studies and the nature of earth systems, during times of biological evolution
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